BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 103 
in equal parts. They use 3,500 hooks, therefore more than our boats. 
Even if these Danish boats catch one-fourth less than our boats, the 
two Danish fishermen make as much, because their expenses are 
smaller and because their lines represent only a small capital. The 
same applies to the larger boats, which are worth from 400 to 500 
crowns ($107.20 to $134), have a crew of 4 or 5 men, and use from 6,000 
to 7,200 hooks. The advantage which the Danish fishermen have over 
ours becomes still more apparent where deck-boats are employed, as is 
the case at Esbjerg. These boats are very seaworthy, draw 5J feet of 
water at the stern and 4J feet at the bow; their length is 25 feet along 
the keel, and 35 feet over all on deck ; and, like the Swedish boats, they 
are very broad. The price of such a boat is 2,500 crowns ($670) at the 
wharf. These boats have a crew of 6 to 8 men, and sometimes set as 
many as 15,000 hooks. It will easily be understood that this method 
of fishing is more remunerative than ours, as a Norderney boat, even 
under the most favorable conditions, if manned by 3 men (4 shares), 
catches about 1,500 fish, while an Esbjerg boat, manned by 8 fishermen, 
catches as many as 5,000 fish. Each one of our fishermen, therefore, 
gets about 370 fish, while each Danish fisherman (8 fishermen = 8 
shares, boat = 1 share, total = 9 shares) gets about 550 fish. The 
Danish fishermen, can, therefore, afford to sell their fish somewhat 
cheaper. Our fishermen can catch 1,500 fish with 3,000 hooks ; while 
the Jutland fishermen, who use five times as many hooks, ought there- 
fore to catch five times as many fish (7,500), but this is not the case ; 
and I am, therefore, convinced that our waters contain more fish than 
the Jutland waters; and, as a general rule, the plaice caught on the 
west coast of Jutland are leaner than ours. The large quantities of 
plaice caught on the coast of Jutland are sent to Sleswick-Holstein to 
be smoked, or by way of Frederikshavn to Copenhagen. Swedish fish- 
ermen buy plaice at Locken, and take them as far as Christiania and 
other Norwegian ports. Whenever during the prevalence of south 
winds German fishermen are fishing near Riff Horn and beyond, and 
there catch sometimes a boat-load of plaice in 12 hours, it might be rec- 
ommended to them, in case the wind prevents them from reaching the 
German or Dutch markets, to make an attempt to sell their fish in Nor- 
way, as no plaice are caught near the Norwegian coast, and as these 
fish fetch a good price there. 
Of the Lymfiord fisheries, those for oysters were particularly inter- 
esting to me. It is well known that after (in 1825) the narrow neck of 
land which separated the Lymfiord from the North Sea was broken, 
oysters began to make their appearance in the fiord. The current prob- 
ably carried the spawn into the fiord from the North Sea, for this oys- 
ter has exactly the shape of our North Sea oyster, but, owing to the 
condition and depth of the water, the shell of the fiord oyster is not so 
strong. Some years ago the Danish Government derived an income of 
240,000 crowns ($64,320) per annum from renting out these oyster-fish- 
